Oak, Ash and Thorn
by SixPerfections
Summary: Bella was born very different from everyone else. When she meets a certain Pixie things in her life start to change. Strange powers awaken, she learns to love herself, vampires desire her blood and the Quileutes take an unhealthy interest in her. Alice and the Cullens are her only hope of getting out of this one. Alice/Bella. Femslash. Bella not useless but not super strong either.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Make no money Blah blah, etc etc, I own everything except not what isn't not nothing on this. Capiche? Good 'cuz I'm not sure I do. **_

_**Fanfic Info: This is a Bellice story. It will be mostly T but it might stray into M territory. I have a love of citrousy scenes and may take my first stab at writing one. Some things will obviously be very different from canon. Also, I based Bella's looks on that of a drow elf from the forgotten realms franchise. However she is NOT a drow elf though there are many similarities. What is she? Well that is part of the mystery. **_

_**Without further blah blah here is the First Chapter. Enjoy. **_

XXXXX

I sighed, looking in the mirror. Looking at myself, all I could see was a freak, especially once now that the sun had risen. With a grumble I started the process of getting ready for my first day of school in Forks, wishing as I always did that I could crawl into bed and sleep the day away.

First is getting dressed. Long sleeves and a high collar are a necessity, as well as pants and shoes that cover every inch of skin. I even have to wear gloves and use a made up 'condition' for wearing them. The less skin I show the better or else I'm guaranteed to be stared at constantly. One of my worst fears if that someone will get a good look at me without any make up or covering and laugh or otherwise make my life a living hell.

You see every inch of my skin from head to toe is black. I don't mean Michael Jordan or Usher black. I mean ebony black. Charcoal black. From the top of my head to my lips to the tips of my toes my skin is black as a moonless night, as the inside of a grave or like sharpies that happen to be labeled with the color 'black'.

And that's only one of my problems.

After covering all my skin from my neck downwards next is putting on my brown wig of real human hair. Some girl from South America has once had this hair; seems kinda weird sometimes but I'm grateful for it and for how expensive it was whoever the hair belonged to before was probably well compensated. I needed a good wig to help take care of two of my other problems; my ears and my weird snow white hair.

Why is my paper white, completely devoid of color hair weird you ask? Well aside from the obvious that no one should come close to my hair color before the age of nighty was the fact that it refused to absorb dyes evenly. Every time I'd tried the color would end up uneven and leave huge splotches of different colored patches all over my head. In the end I'd given up on dying my white head of hair. Truth be told I loved my hair. It was thick and luscious and went down halfway down my back. However I was not eager to be any more of a freak at school. So the white hair went under the wig.

There was another reason I wore the wig. It had to do with my freakish ears that were, like, four or five inches longer than any normal ear had a right to be.

I'll just admit it, even though I hate hearing it form other people: I have elf ears. There, you happy? They slope kind of backwards and out and end in tapered points. They are way too big and stick out way to far to make hiding them under my hair an option. Again I had no desire to be branded a freak so I'd been hiding my ears (along with everything else) since elementary school.

Solution to both the hair and the ear problem? Wig. We never came up with a better way unless I wanted to wear funny hats all the time.

I tied my hair up as tight as I could to my scalp with pins and clips so it would fit better under the wig. Then I grabbed a comfy elastic headband and put it on so it pinned my long ears against the side of my head. It usually got really uncomfortable having to keep them like that for an entire day but I'd mostly learned to cope with it. Once I had all that in place my prized wig of straight brown hair would go on my head. I was about halfway done with my transformation into "normal" socially acceptable Bella Swan by this point.

Next I looked at my eyes. They were red and big on my face. Completely exotic and unnatural looking and I thought they looked cool as hell. All things being equal I might even consider leaving them as they were without disguising them for school. However there is one huge drawback to cool looking eyes; sensitivity to light, along with an _extremely_ strong sensitivity to sunlight. Don't ask me why but while artificial light was always harsh sunlight near blinded even on a cloudy overcast day never mind a sunny one. So I had a pair of dark brown colored contacts that I put into my eyes. They were especially made to act as sunglasses to my eyes so the sensitivity would be tolerable in most cases and I didn't spend all day with a headache and squinting painfully at everything. They made my eyes a boring color instead of my awesome natural bright red but in the end I was probably be happy drawing the least amount of attention to myself.

Finally I looked almost like a normal girl except for one intsy bitty detail; my whole exposed face was showing. Black as pitch every invariable inch of it, even my lips. The only thing to break up the black of my face was the white of my eyebrows and my big eyes. This is where heavy duty professional stage make up comes into play, they kind they use on movie sets to _really_ change how a person looks.

After years of doing it it only took about ten minutes to cover my face with a color that covered up the black of my skin and made me look normal. It was a pain in the butt applying it evenly, not getting it on my clothes or anything and making sure it looked natural and not like I'd either had too much plastic surgery or like I was doing a bad impression of a clown. But like I said I've had years to master the art. I'm proud to say that even when people get close to me they usually have no idea that I'm covering my whole face. Still I normally am never close to anyone so I can't be sure if that observation would always hold up. Applying some eyeliner to make my white eyebrows match my brown wig and adding a different color to make my lips look natural were the finishing touches.

That was my long morning ritual but it had to be long. I had to hide my weird as heck skin color, my white hair, my long pointy eyes and my very bright red eyes. Those were only the things I could really do something about. There was nothing much I could do about my overlarge sharp pointy canines that went down almost all the way to my lower gums if I kept my mouth closed. I just had to remember to not show any teeth when I smiled and not to bite my lip lest my 'fangs' peek out from behind my teeth to make me look either cute or threatening. Part of the reason I never liked to talk to people was because if I wasn't very careful they would get a flash of fang. Also why I didn't like to eat lunch in the lunchroom. In fact around people it was better to keep my mouth shut altogether.

Yup. I'd been born a freak. And because of it I'd always hated every minute of school. Every. Last. One.

Forks would be no different, I was sure of it.

After looking at myself critically in the mirror for another minute making sure nothing was out of place I stifled a yawn and made my way downstairs with bone weary tiredness. No amount of coffee ever woke me up. I'd long ago resigned myself to stumble around half asleep during classes all day long.

Charlie, my dad, was sitting downstairs on the kitchen table drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. He looked up at me and I gave him an unenthusiastic smile as greeting.

"Hi dad," I said walking into the kitchen.

"Mornin' Bells," he said, taking the time to put down his paper and examine me critically. He'd always done this and for the most part I endured his scrutiny good naturedly. Since we'd decided as a family long ago to disguise my looks whenever I was in public Charlie would always fuss over making sure everything was perfect and I didn't have stray white hairs or patches of black skin showing. It was annoying since I'd been taking care of it all by myself for years but it was also strangely comforting. I also think it was one of his ways of letting me know he cared without so many words.

"You feel ready for school?" he asked me after finishing his inspection, sounding just a bit worried.

_Never have, never will be. I hate high school. _

"Fine dad. You know, rather sleep all day but that's nothing new," I said moving to the fridge.

"You know, if you have any problems..." he said letting his sentence trail off.

_Why couldn't I get a GED? Or home school? I hate being around all those people. _

"Fine dad, I have my cell phone," I said to him as I poured myself a glass of organic fresh squeezed orange juice, "I'll call if something comes up."

He nodded and went back to his paper as I drank my juice. I'm glad I'd at least broken Charlie of his incessant need to see me eat breakfast. It took him years to get it into his head that eating anything for breakfast, _ever_, just made me want to puke. Juice was the best 'breakfast' compromise I managed to get away with.

I washed my dirty glass and headed out the door with a quick 'goodbye dad' over my shoulder. His concerned gaze followed me out the door but if he was really that worried he wouldn't be making me go in the first place. School is for normal kids. I'm not normal. Why couldn't my parents ever get that?

With a huff I got into my ancient beat up truck and shut the door, my eyes stinging in the sunlight even though it was overcast. One of the few good things about moving to Forks was that the sun shone a lot less brightly here than it did in Phoenix. Another of the few good things was that I was suddenly the proud owner of my own motor vehicle. I was inordinately happy about it and even though it looked like crap I didn't care. It ran right? And it was big and had character. It took away my foul mood from having to go back to school when I first got it. Well, almost.

Feeling that I'd like nothing more than to curl up and pretend school didn't exist I started up the engine and pulled out of the driveway. I seriously hoped my sensitivity to light didn't lead to me crashing into anything. First day of Forks High school here I come. My life is hell. Bleh.

XXXXX

Walking up to the school on my first day things started going badly for me before I even walked through the front doors. More precisely they started going badly for me as I walked up the steps to the main entrance. Mostly because, like a clutz, I tripped over my own two feet and a step to end up falling and sprawled on the floor.

"Hey, is that the new girl?" I heard someone whisper loudly as people all around the immediate area stopped to stare.

I've never blushed in my life because my skin tone prevents anything like that from happening. However I could and did feel my face and neck growing hot from embarrassment as blood rushed to those areas. Face burning, I gathered up my books and whatever tiny bit of dignity I had left and hurried inside the door. I could just feel the stares of the student body at my back.

So much for blending in and being invisible.

XXXXX

"Isabella Swan. Err, its my first day here. I need to get my schedule," I said politely to the lady sitting behind the desk in the registrar's office. She didn't answer for a second and just looked at my face.

"What?" I said sounding a little more panicked than I wanted to. Did some of my makeup rub off? Is there something freaky about me that she's seeing?

The woman blinked and smiled apologetically. "Oh it's nothing hun, just for a minute I was struck by how much you look like your father. Not exactly the same mind you but you two are a lot alike. I see him every month along with my husband at the civil servant's monthly lunch in you know," she said to me.

"Uh.." I said intelligently, not knowing how to respond to that. In Phoenix no one knew anyone. Now a complete stranger was sharing details of her life and talking about my father. It was beyond weird.

After rifling through some papers she handed my my schedule, "Here you go Isabella dear. Tell your father Margaret and Tom Plank say hello."

"Err... sure. Margaret and Tom Plank. Got it," I said still finding the situation completely bizarre.

The woman just smiled at me widely before I turned and walked away.

As I was walking away the woman, Margaret I guess, called back to me, "Oh Isabella dear, do you want me to get a student to show you to your class? It's only a few minutes to the bell and I wouldn't want you to be late."

_No, I don't want anyone to show me around. I don't want to meet anyone. I don't want to talk to anyone. And what's the deal with this Isabella dear junk? Can't say I'm really liking it here lady. _

Before I could reply the _woman_ was waving her hand and calling out to someone.

"Oh, Oh Angela dear come here! You have Mr. Holtz first period don't you dear? Be a sweetheart and show Isabella the way to the classroom will you? She's brand new here, she's Chief Swan's daughter."

I was starting to get seriously ticked off at this lady. I'm used to the big city where everyone stays out of everyone's business. Why is this woman gossiping about me to another _student_? The less people knew about me the better as far as I was concerned.

Something was telling me staying anonymous and under the radar in Forks wasn't going to work though. After the last few minutes of conversation, just call it a hunch.

"Sure thing Mrs. Plank," came the hesitant reply from the girl.

I turned and looked at Angela who smiling at me in a friendly way. Damn. Though I was feeling prickly inside there was no way I could take it out on someone who seemed to be trying to be nice without being obnoxious.

"Hi, I'm Angela," she said extending her hand for me to shake.

"Bella Swan," I said shaking her hand after hesitating for a moment. Her eyes flickered curiously to my gloved hands but didn't say anything about them. A good start in my book.

"Well we really should get going. Why don't you show me you class schedule and we'll see if we have any more classes in common?" she asked.

I showed it to her and we turned to walk to class. Turned out we had English, Biology and American History together. I could tell she was trying to be nice and make me feel welcome which I appreciated, but it still made me uncomfortable. I'd never been comfortable in my own skin around other people, or during school, or in the middle of social situations. When she asked me to sit at lunch with her and her friends I hesitantly said yes not wanting to appear rude. Still I was anxious thinking about being forced to eat and forcefully socialize.

Mr. Holtz made me introduce myself in front of the whole class which I did as quickly and to the point as possible wishing it to be over. The overhead lights and the light from the windows were too bright and everyone was staring at me like I was the most fascinating thing since wonderbread. In Phoenix the new kid would get a cursory glance before being summarily ignored. I was starting to miss Phoenix even with it's horrible never ending sunshine.

Holtz was an all right teacher, if a little boring. Struggling to stay awake was more my problem. As it had always been. In all my classes ever. Thankfully I didn't fall asleep on my desk in my very first class in Forks.

After class was over I saw some guy with a varsity jacket get up and head straight for me. What did I do? I bolted. Gathered up my books and headed out the door as fast as I could. I was already out the door and heading down the hall when a hand grabbed my elbow. I had to struggle not to flinch and jerk away at the contact.

I turned and saw that it was Angela looking concerned. "Hey, you practically ran out of there. Are you ok?" she asked letting go of my arm.

I nodded and kept walking forcing her to keep pace. "Fine. I'm fine. Just got a little claustrophobic in there and I really need to find my locker before next class," I lied while doing my best to give her a sincere smile. It was actually surprisingly nice that she came after me and looked concerned even if it freaked me out a little bit.

"Just..." I said, wanting to say something more truthful but not comfortable really opening up to a stranger, "all the attention. I _really_ could do without it," I said finally.

Angela nodded sympathetically. "Any little thing is big news in Forks, so you'll probably have to put up with tons of curious people for a while. But it will die down eventually, don't worry."

_Great,_ I groaned internally, _the beauty of small town America. Wonderful. Just beautiful. Peachy. Stupid nosy losers with no lives, every last one of them, I sw-_

My internal rant was cut short by the sight of two girls walking in our direction. I know there were two of then, my peripheral vision told me that, but my eyes instantly locked on just one of them. She was short, a couple of inches shorter than me and I'm a pathetically tiny 5'2". Unlike me at the time, awkward and literally tripping over my own feet on a regular basis this girl moved with a grace that made it look like she was floating, like a butterfly or hummingbird going from flower to flower but with even more perfect ease and finesse. Her face was almost unbearably pretty and perfect, her small fey features lit up with a blinding smile as she talked to the girl next to her. There was just something _different_ about this girl and against my will I found myself intrigued. When she turned and locked eyes with me I swear my heart skipped a beat. They were an exotic yellow and gold that reminded me pictures I'd seen of the eyes of a lion. When she looked at me her expression turned to one of curiosity and it made something funny in my stomach flip. We held eye contact for another second before we passed each other in the hall. I had to fight really hard not to turn around and watch the girl as she walked away like some kind of dork.

"I see you noticed those two, huh?" asked Angela next to me.

"What?" I practically squeaked, embarrassed that I'd been caught staring.

I think Angela was fighting an upwards quirk of her lips, but I couldn't be sure. "Don't worry everyone has that reaction. It's unfair how perfect those two are. Actually, their entire family is ridiculously beautiful and perfect. It's almost unnatural."

They had both been beautiful and perfect? Honestly I had just looked at one of them and everything else had been blocked out. All I could tell you about the other girl is that I think she had blonde hair, maybe.

"What were their names?" I asked, though in reality I was only really curious about one of them.

"Rosalie Hale was the blonde. Alice Cullen was the one with short spiky hair. They're adopted sisters," she explained.

_Alice Cullen huh?_ Something about her just pulled me in. For someone who had spent pretty much their entire life keeping people at a distance so they could never find out my physical peculiarities and make my life hell for it, it was a scary and disconcerting feeling.

"They're really popular I'm guessing?" I asked conversationally.

"Oh, _totally_. The Cullens are the most popular kids in school. Sometimes I think the whole entire school is either in awe of them or completely jealous. I think it makes it twice as bad that they never let _anyone_ hang out with them. They really keep to themselves."

Yup. That was a clear sign to forget Alice Cullen even existed. Anonymity was how I survived and having an interest in the popular kids wasn't going to end anywhere good. Not like I'd have a chance in hell to get close to them, a shy freaky girl always covered from head to toe and wearing leather gloves for no reason. Luckily for me, I had no interest in getting close to them or anyone else.

Still, those eyes. They weren't exactly normal. Just like my eyes weren't. Maybe that's why I was feeling drawn to her? Some kind of kinship because of our physical anomalies?

That thought made me laugh darkly in my mind. Oh yeah so many similarities. When people saw Alice Cullen revealed they must see beauty and exotic eyes and want to be around her. If people saw me uncovered they would run, stare, laugh, mock, take out their phones and take pictures of me and call me a freak while calling CNN or the National Enquirer. The idea that Alice and I would have anything in common was laughable.

Chiding myself at the absurdity of dwelling on some girl I'd passed on the hallway briefly I turned to Angela and asked her something about our history class. Little did I know then that wouldn't be my last interaction of the day with Alice Cullen.

XXXXX

Lunch. I dreaded lunch. And the Forks cafeteria lunchroom was worse than most. Other than the fact that it was crowded full of noisy people it had windows. A lot of windows. Even though the light was diffused that much natural light always made me a combination of clumsy, sleepy, irritable and on edge. As I stood in line to get my lunch thankfully no one talked to me but I could feel a multitude of eyes on me even with my back turned. It was enough to have to make me fight the urge to run.

After getting my lunch of salad – minus dressing – plus an apple I turned and looked over the sea of faces for a place to sit. It turned out it hadn't been just my imagination. A lot of people _were_ looking at me. I froze like a deer in the headlights having had no previous experience in this kind of situation and having no idea what to do.

I saw someone wave at me and I realized it was Angela. Feeling momentaraly relieved I started heading for her table until I realized who she was sitting with. Well it wasn't like I _knew_ any of them but it was that the table was full of people and every last one of them was looking at me anxiously waiting for me to come over. I hated being the center of attention. It went against every instinct I had. With all the lights and all the stares and all these people looking ready to pounce as soon as I sat down, I freaked.

Walking as fast as I could I headed for the exit throwing out my tray full of salad but pocketing the apple. I headed for the doors that led back into the school not really thinking where I was headed, just needing to get away from this awful situation where it seemed _everybody_ wanted something from me.

On my way to the door I happened to look to the side and saw Alice Cullen looking right at me with a surprised and curious look on her face. Great, I knew I was making a scene. Everyone was looking at me and everyone knew something was wrong. But why did this girl have to know I was a freak right from the start too? And what did I care what Alice friggin Cullen who I hadn't even met yet thought of me anyway?

Disgusted at myself I looked away from her and reached the double doors that led out of the cafeteria. I needed to find somewhere where I could regroup. Where I could hide. Preferably away from any damn windows.

I knew where I could hide, same place I'd often hidden in Phoenix. After a minute of looking around the near deserted hallways I found what I was looking for. Making sure no one was looking I opened the door and slipped inside.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I closed the door behind me and leaned on it, almost complete total darkness enveloping me. Places like this had always been my sanctuary. Where was I? In the janitor's closet. Don't knock it, it has everything I need that you can't normally find in any normal American school. It's quiet. It's private. And it's mercifully dark. It's not perfect since the sun is still shining outside but it does help to clear my fuzzy head and release a lot of nerves. Mercifully dark. Even if it did smell funny.

Feeling mostly safe now and rapidly calming myself I walked over to a small stool at the end of the tiny room and sat down dodging a mop and cleaning cart. Tiredly I pulled the apple out of my pocket and took a tentative bite. It wasn't organic and I could still taste some residual chemicals and pesticides along with some of the wax they used on the skin but I ate it anyway. Halfway through the first day and the whole school probably already though I was a freak and I was even more tired than I had gotten used to expecting during the day.

I wasn't built for this. I knew that deep down in my bones. I believed in destiny, a little, and my destiny was not to spend daylight hours rotting away at a school. I didn't belong here.

No one got that though. Especially not my parents. At risk of sounding like a stereotypical angsty teenager no one understood me. Then again who in the world would get my issues when _I _barely understand them?

I was in the middle of my bout of self pitty and half way through my apple when I saw a shadow underneath the door. Instinctively I froze and slowed my breathing to almost nothing, trying to do nothing to give myself away and hoping they would just leave. Instead the handle turned and the door slowly opened.

Standing on the other side of the door, looking amused and apologetic was Alice friggin Cullen.

"Hi," she said mischievously and with humor in her voice, "Bella Swan right? Mind if I join you?"

Gulp.

XXXXX

_**So what did you think? Was it interesting? Worth continuing? I'd like your support. Please leave a note and let me know how much you did (or didn't) like this chapter. **_

_**Have a good day!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Sorry for the delay. My excuse is that I'm moving apartments. My hope is that it wont be nearly so long until the next update... I think I can do it! **_

_**Thank you everyone who reviewed, favorited and put an alert for my story in the first chapter! It was a much larger response than I thought it would be. I was frankly a little blown away. So everyone, thank you. **_

_**Here is the next chapter. Enjoy! **_

XXXXX

_**(Alice POV)**_

I'm glad curiosity only killed the cat, and not the vampire. If curiosity could kill a vampire I'm positive wouldn't have survived even my first decade among the thermally challenged. Out of my whole family, with the possible exception of Carlile, I've always been the one who has taken the most interest in humans. So when the news circulated around school that a new human would be showing up soon? Well I just had to know more.

So all week before her arrival I kept an ear open for juicy gossip. Her name was Isabella Swan. Daughter of Chief Swan. She had moved away to Phoenix years ago after his divorce. Details like that satisfied my curiosity all week. Still I had no idea how truly interesting she would be until I got my first look at her Monday morning.

I was walking with Rosalie after first period when I saw her walking down the hall in my direction. One glance told me this girl was very unusual. Nevermind that she was a fashion disaster which unfortunately is par for the course in a small town like Forks. No, what made her unusual was that to my vastly better than human eyes it was clear that every bit of her exposed skin was covered with some kind of thick heavy make up. I took a closer look at her and really examined her. She wore contact lenses and I saw how her hair did not sit completely flat and naturally on her head. It took me a second to realize she was wearing a wig. How delightfully mysteriously unusual.

I turned to Rosalie and said, "Hey, check out the new girl straight ahead," I said in a way that made me sound very much like a teenager instead of my actual age.

Her eyes flickered ahead and she took in all the same details as I did. "Weird," was all she said, sounding completely bored and disinterested. Honestly Rosalie could sometimes not be counted on for any fun.

I turned back to the girl and saw that she was now looking right at me. Her mouth was hanging slightly open in what looked like surprise and wonder. It wasn't an unusual reaction to us but I have to say it made her look really cute. In fact even with the make up and wig it was clear that she was a beautiful girl, a few inches taller than me and while not as petite as me with a somewhat more voluptuous figure she still looked delicate and precious. Then I saw something that would have sent my heart racing if that organ actually worked.

It was subtle but with her mouth hanging slightly open and my superior vision I saw how the skin of her lips rested over her face. I almost didn't recognize the subtle indentations on her face for what they were but having lived with vampires for so long it was obvious. The girl had honest to god fangs. A twitch of her lips confirmed it as I saw the skin of her upper lip hug and curl around the oversized canines. For a second I thought she might be a vampire but I could hear a strong heartbeat coming from her. Stranger and stranger.

Our eyes locked and I felt a sudden desire to get closer to this girl. I don't know why but looking into her eyes I suddenly had a strong desire to befriend her, to get to know her. It was unusual for us to do that with humans but I didn't care. Alice is a curious and friendly creature and Alice will not be deterred from doing what she wants. Even speaking in the third person if she so desires.

We finally passed each other in the hall and the spell was broken. I couldn't help a sudden giggle bubble up in my throat at this new enigma. This was going to be fun, I was sure of it!

Rosalie gave me a knowing and disproving look. "I know you Alice. Just don't."

"Don't what?" I asked innocently.

"Don't get friendly with the new girl. We keep to ourselves for a reason remember?" she said with an annoyed tone.

"I'll do what I want. I can keep a secret, no need for you to worry."

Rose looked skeptical. "Gotten any visions about the human?" she asked sounding disinterested.

I blinked at that. No as a matter of fact I had not. It wasn't something completely out of the ordinary but then again I usually got at least one vision or two of those I was interested in even when I wasn't actively looking for them. Curious, I tried to gaze into the future of Bella Swan as I'd heard people calling her.

At first I didn't get any visions like I usually get but I got something else entirely. Just flashes and impressions that didn't make a lot of sense. A forest at night. A sense of birds in the trees and animals in the brush. Trees, trees of all kinds weaving together in all kinds of designs. Water rushing over rocks making music, the natural music of a wide creek.

It was nonsensical but beautiful and it made me push further to try and get some sort of actual vision about the girl. It took way more effort than it should have, like forcing my way through a thick jungle instead of walking through a doorway. Eventually though I did get an actual vision.

It was Bella, a few hours from now, eating an apple in a closet and looking unhappy. And that was it. Surprisingly short vision for the amount of work I put in but I was not unhappy because the vision did give me a sense of something. Whatever or whoever Bella Swan was I needed to meet her in that closet for both out sakes. I couldn't help but let a smile take over my face. When was the last time something this new and exciting had come into my life?

XXXXX

"I can't read her mind," Edward grumbled, "all I get are thoughts that somehow seem distorted and random images."

All of my family at the lunch table turned to look at Bella standing in line to get some of that horrid lunch. Edward looked upset, and maybe a bit constipated. Jasper looked thoughtful, Emmett curious, and Rose looked a mixture of aggravated and indifferent.

"Her emotions are strange. I can still read them but they don't feel like normal emotions, somehow," Jasper said thoughtfully.

"Could she like, not be human? Think she's hiding something under that wig and all that make up?" asked Emmett.

"I don't know. Maybe she has a skin condition, there are some medical reasons why someone's skin could look odd. It might be just something like that that she's covering up," I said. However even though I said that part of me felt sure that it was more than something as ordinary as a skin condition. I wasn't sure why I thought that but it was just a feeling that I got.

"She doesn't smell quite right," said Rose while glaring holes into the back of the new girl's head.

I took a deep breath and even halfway across the lunchroom her scent was easy to pick out form amongst all the other humans. On first impression her scent seemed human but there was _something_ different about it if you paid attention and looked a little closer. It's hard to describe a scent in words but it was just more earthy, more charged. It smelled of moss and cool air and trees and sunset. I guess you could say she smelled like a human and all sorts of things nature-y at the same time. It was definitely strange.

She also smelled incredibly delicious. It smelled like drinking her blood would be more than just the wild power and satisfaction of a regular human kill, it smelled like taking her blood would be a religious experience. Strangely even though she smelled better than anyone else in the lunchroom by far my desire for her blood was not any greater than my desire for the blood of any other human. That incredible smell should have made it harder to control my bloodlust but it really didn't. That went against everything I had thought I had understood about our bloodlust.

Bella Swan, what is so special about you?

I was also both bothered and excited by another fact; during my classes after seeing Bella I had tried to get more visions of her future. Where normally I would have gotten a huge flood of information if it had been anyone else I only got scattered bits and pieces of her future. It's like there was something about her that made it hard for my visions to latch on to her. It was novel to be in the dark about something new and really exciting... and kind of freaky as well. Suddenly having a blind spot in my visions was more than a little disconcerting.

My visions had shown me one thing though. Somehow Bella Swan was going to play an important role in my future. How or why was still a mystery though.

"I'll try to find out more about her," I said to my siblings, "I'll have an opportunity in a few minutes."

"You got a vision? I thought you said you weren't getting them for her?" asked Rosalie suspiciously.

"Yeah well. I'm still getting some, just not as many as normal," I said playing down the fact that I hardly got any information at all.

"Find out if there is anything else unusual about her. Carlile is going to want to hear about this," said Edward, still moody over his powers not working on the new mystery girl.

I wonder if any of my siblings had noticed her fangs yet? Well I wasn't about to enlighten them. Let them find out on their own.

Was it weird that I wanted to keep a piece of her to myself just a little bit longer?

I watched as she got her lunch and turned to see at least half the student body staring. Poor Bella must have some sort of problem with crowds and attention because I saw her go from relatively calm to completely freaked out in the space of a few moments. Her eyes kept looking at everything and seeing nothing all at the same time. She dumped her tray and practically ran out of the cafeteria. I couldn't help but feel bad for her. I couldn't help but wish I could somehow make it better.

"Wow, she's a little freak isn't she?" said Rosalie coldly.

I glared at her but said nothing. Standing up I made to follow in the direction Bella had gone. "This is my cue, gonna have a chat with our mystery girl," I told our table.

"Be careful," said Edward, sounding surprisingly concerned.

I gave him a reassuring smile. "There won't be any problems trust me. Talk to you guys later!"

XXXXX

_**(Bella POV)**_

"Hi," she said mischievously with humor in her voice, "Bella Swan right? Mind if I join you?"

Gulp.

I just sat in that little stool in the janitor's closet looking at Alice in befuddled shock. I'm lucky there weren't any flies in that closet or they would probably have flown right in my mouth. Alice just stood there leaning on the door frame with this cute little amused smile on her face.

Wait, cute? No no no. Last thing in the world I need is to be crushing on someone, let alone someone like Alice Cullen. So I'm going to say she's... interesting. Yeah, interesting.

Not cute at all, I swear.

It took me a few seconds to realize that my mouth was open and how that could be a bad idea. I shut my jaw closed with a click, studying Alice's face to see if she had seen anything unusual. Having my mouth open is a bad idea because it would be so easy for someone to notice my fangs. Luckily for me Alice's face didn't show that she had seen anything unusual... You know aside from a girl sitting in a dark smelly closet.

I'm sure she sees that kind of thing all the time.

After a few moments Alice quirked a perfect eyebrow expectantly. It took me a second to realize she had asked me a question. God, how bizarre can this situation be?

"I ummm... I guess you can join me. You know if you want. Plenty of space here," I said. Man if I hadn't made a _great_ impression before my nervous babbling sealed the deal.

Alice stepped into the room and left the door ajar so that there was a little bit of light coming into the closet. She walked towards me and stopped so close that our knees were almost touching. I looked up at her face from where she was looming above me and I almost felt like falling to my knees and worshiping her. In the almost not-light of the closet her pale skin, strange eyes and completely out of this world beauty made her look like a Goddess.

To me it seemed like Alice took my star struck gawking in stride. Of course, I'm sure she gets it all the time looking like she does, and also by having this charming almost innocent air about her. Damn it, here I was about to be another fool tripping over herself because of a Cullen. The thought of being just another fool after a member of that supposedly untouchable family galvanized me into getting my wits back.

"I know why I'm in here, but what are you doing here?" I asked Alice, proud of myself at how steady my voice sounded with Alice's legs just inches from touching mine.

"Well I saw you come in here. I wanted to introduce myself, say hi. I'm Alice. I'll admit I'm curious about you and I want to get to know you better," she said.

Her voice was like tinkling bells, light and delicate and almost hypnotic. It was the first time I'd heard her speak and her voice was just as magnificent as the rest of her. In the gloom of the closet I could almost convince myself this was a dream.

Then what she had actually said registered. She wanted to get to know me better? Me? Oh no no so not a good idea. Getting close to people meant danger. It meant they might find out about me. And why would she want to get to know _me _of all people? I was instantly suspicious of her motives. What beautiful popular girl would go out of her way to befriend some antisocial freak if there wasn't some kind of angle to it?

"I'm flattered Alice, really. I'm just, you know, kind of a loner. Kind of a book worm too. I like it that way. Thank you but I don't think I'd fit in with you and your friends," I said to her, trying to turn her down without being too rude about it.

The look of disappointment and hurt that flashed across her face instantly made me regret my words. I felt like an asshole. She'd followed me into this dingy closet being nice and friendly to me and I throw it back in her face. Now after seeing her reaction I was thinking that maybe she didn't have some nefarious ulterior motive after all. Great Bella, great way to hurt this girl who was trying to be nice to you.

"Do you really?" she asked me in a subdued tone.

I had to swallow. My mouth was dry. "Do I really what?"

"Do you really like it that way? Being alone?"

I opened my mouth to say yes but something about the way she was looking at me so intently made me pause and consider the question. The truth was that I did not enjoy being so lonely. Still, I couldn't trust anyone with my secrets and getting close to someone would mean them eventually finding out. The possible consequences left me too terrified to try. Last time someone found out something strange about be it really did not end well for me.

I didn't really want to lie to Alice so I settled for a truthful answer. "I think it's for the best," I said, looking down and away from the intensity of her gaze. Her eyes almost seemed to shine in the gloom of the closet.

Alice didn't like that response. She cocked her hip and put her hand on her waist, looking at me almost disapprovingly. "Well that's the silliest thing I've ever heard," she said to me.

I blinked at that. "What?"

"You heard me. How can it be for the best to go through life alone? What good does it do? Unless you want to become some kind of hermit. They disappear in the mountains for years to meditate or become one with nature and stuff. Unless you're one of those dudes it makes no sense to not make any friends," she said adamantly.

I was taken aback by her outburst and all the seeming randomness in it. "Listen, I'm not sure how it's really any of your business-"

"It is my business. It is," she said with conviction, nodding emphatically.

"How?" I said, completely flabbergasted by this whole conversation.

"Because, you and I are going to be good friends. At least," she said, trailing off at the end.

I shifted uncomfortably, not sure what to make of her declaration. Instead I ignored it and went to something else. "I'm not really friend material you know. I wear gloves all the time because of my... skin condition. I'm socially awkward. Not really sure why you're bothering with me," I said.

"No Bella. No. You and I are going to be friends. I'm not going to take no for an answer," she said, and she looked like she was really serious about it. I got the impression this girl would hound me until I agreed to be her friend. How did I get into this situation?

I felt my resistance start to crumble. I'll admit I was scared, scared to make a friend. I'm terrified that I'll get to like someone and like spending time with them and start to trust them and enjoy their company... only to have them leave me and be cruel and mean when they find out just how not normal I really am. But I also get really lonely. Sometimes it hurts so bad how alone I feel sometimes. Sometimes I cry into my pillow because it really hurts to have no one.

I was sorely tempted. Even though I didn't know her Alice seemed just so bubbly and friendly and genuine. I had no idea why she singled me out but her offer of friendship really felt legitimate. A large, huge part of me was dying to take this strange offer in the janitor's closet with both hands and not let go.

But the last time I tried the consequences were just too hard. I don't think I could go through that again. It might really damage me for life. I just couldn't risk it. But I wanted to so bad. But I just couldn't.

I opened my mouth to tell tell Alice 'no' when she spoke up and beat me to it.

"Come shopping with me on Saturday. I can show you around Port Angeles, it's the closest place with any decent shops around here. I never ever do this but I promise I'll let you pick what stores we go to," she said.

"Alice, I don't know-"

"Bella if you say no one more time you're seriously going to hurt my feelings," she said, and by the look on her face I thought it might actually be true.

I hung my head, feeling defeated. Alice was being so nice to me, I couldn't bring myself to do something that might actually hurt her feelings. There was no way any normal person could hurt someone so nice.

"Ok," I muttered.

Alice literally squealed, bounced up and down and clapped her hands together in excitement. Despite my reluctance I couldn't help but smile at her antics. She really was adorable.

Wait, adorable? Only in a strictly not interesting sort of way.

She then _lanched_ herself at me in what was probably meant to be a hug but could also have been a tackle.

I stood up and backed away as much as I could in the tiny space, which was not much. Alice ended up wrapping her arms around my shoulders instead of my neck. _Thank all that's Holy_. If she hugged me and touched my face there was a chance the heavy make up would rub off. Hey Bella, why is part of your face pitch black all of a sudden? I so did _not_ need to have that conversation with anyone, ever.

If Alice was worried about my jumping out of my seat when she went to hug me she didn't show it. She broke the hug and grinned at me excitedly. "We're going to have so much fun! I promise," she said.

I smiled at her even though I was still feeling off kilter. "Yeah... I uh, look forward to it," I said awkwardly.

"Well I better get back to my family and the bell's going to ring soon. I'll talk to you later ok?" she said, separating from me.

"Oh, ok," I said intelligently, my brain still struggling to catch up and make sense of Alice's quick changes of subject.

"Ok see you in class. Bye Bella," she said with a beaming smile that left me feeling a little dazzled. She gave my hand a reassuring squeeze and walked out of the closet. Her hand had been ice cold. Weird.

As soon as she was gone I found myself missing her presence. Then as soon as I realized I was feeling that way I chided myself for being a needy idiot. I did not need other people in my life to be happy. I did _not_.

Her scent lingered. It was something like green apples. She smelled so good. I found myself taking a deep breath of her scent before I realized what I was doing and quickly stopped myself.

God. I was in so _so _much trouble.


	3. Chapter 3

**_A/N: I got 46 reviews in two chapters.. that for me is like astronomically good. Thank you everyone who has reviewed, favorite and put my story on alerts. It really is great for me to know that people are enjoying my story. _**

**_This chapter is different in tone than the last two. Hope that everyone who has come this far with me will like the change. _**

**_On to the next chapter! _**

XXXXX

**_(Bella POV)_**

When I got home that day I did what I always always do after school if I can help it; I threw myself on my bed and went right to sleep. My achy, complaining body could finally succumb to exhaustion and pass out. Thick heavy duty black curtains kept out most of the light and I spent a few hours doing what I have always been meant to do during the day... That is hide far away from the sun and sleep. Only being deep underground or in a deep cave could have been better.

I know, I _am_ weird. Sometimes I don't even think of myself as human. Humans don't have a natural pull to sleep all day. Unless they are seriously depressed or something.

Damn.. maybe I need to look into that.

After sleeping the day away I woke up moments before sunset. It's something I've always done, wake up just in time to feel the change of the world from day into blissful night.

I lay in my bed with my eyes open just feeling the energy all around me. I'm pretty sure it's not just a me thing since I've heard of people who can experience the same phenomenon. If you are awake, quiet and aware as the sun is setting (or rising) there is a _shift_ in the air that you can feel. The energies, for lack of a better word, flip. If you pay attention you can feel the exact moment that day changes into night. Its not a gradual shift, it happens all at once. And when it does I feel like I finally come alive.

I smile a toothy smile that I know shows off my fangs but I don't care. Standing up I stretch feeling the changes the night brings upon me. Daylight makes me sleepy, sluggish, and mentally slow. Docile, weak and meek. Nightime makes me feel_ alive_. Energy seems to flow into all my muscles until they feel like they can't hold anymore. My whole being becomes energized and sensitive and strong. My foggy brain clears up to a calm hyper aware, hyper fast and intelligent state (at least compared to daytime Bella). I swear if I look in the mirror I can almost see myself glow with the power given to me by the night.

The best changes as far as I'm concerned however happen with who I am. Daytime Bella is meek, shy and vulnerable. I always feel exposed and shaky like some kind of frightened Chihuahua. Everything is slowed down and submissive and geared for sleep. I hate it. It's nothing at all like nighttime Bella.

At night, there is no other way to describe it; I become a hunter. Proud, strong, confident and completely bad ass. Razor sharp. At night I feel invincible, like I can take on anything and do anything and come out on top because I'm just that good. And I gain my hunter/killer instinct. My wild instinct. My desire to run through the wilderness and hunt and sink my teeth into fresh tender meat comes full force. I embrace it because it's the only time I really feel like I get to be me.

Quickly I move to my closet and start pulling things out. I change into a pair of tiny black lycra shorts with a black sports bra and a flimsy black top. Throwing everything else I'm going to need for the night on my bed I rush for the bathroom.

In the bathroom I look at myself and feel disgusted as I usually do when night comes when I look at me still wearing my disguise. Wig, face paint, contacts, it's all there and I hate it. I hate it with a passion because it hides who I am, the true wild proud creature living underneath. Quickly I grab some alcohol with a rag and begin to wipe all the make up off my face. After that is done I remove my contacts, my wig and undo my hair. My normally straight hair comes down in waves from being held tightly against my scalp all day. My ears pop out, feeling sore from their all day confinement and I revel in finally being able to hear well as opposed to the poor excuse for hearing that most normal people have to live with every day.

I look at myself in the mirror in my almost nothing clothes and smile. Red eyes, fangs, white hair cascading down my chest and shoulders, skin black as night. I look feral, wild, and damn beautiful. Who cares if everyone else would hate me if they saw me like this? At night I'm strong enough to not give a damn. At night I'm happy so long as I can run.

Going back to my bedroom I reach for the bed and start reaching for what I left on the mattress. First I throw on a large mostly empty (black of course) backpack that I'll probably need that night. Then I grab my most precious possession that I've had for the last few years; an Insanity CPXL Bowtech compound bow, customized for a higher draw strength than you would normally find in bows. My baby, my husband, my right hand… you get the picture. After checking the pullies and wire and that everything is in order I strap on my quiver of arrows and put on my slim leather belt with my trusty hunting knife in it's sheath.

After making sure everything fits as it should I walk over to my window and pull open the thick blinds. Outside there is some artificial light but it doesn't bother me. I open the window and take a deep breath of the night air. I can already start to feel the heart beat of the night calling me out to the wilderness. It's almost a physical, primal thing that I can feel just underneath my skin.

Opening the window all the way I grab my bow in my hand and jump. I'm strong, I'm agile and fearless at night. I jump to the tree outside my window grabbing onto a branch with a skill and ease I could never hope to match during the day. I let myself drop down to a lower branch and then the ground enjoying the ease and feeling of wellbeing I get from just moving after dark.

Once on the ground I stand behind the tree, still wary of any nosy neighbors that might catch a glimpse of me in the night. For the most part it's nothing to worry about however. With my coloring and my clothes I am just another shadow in the darkness. Only my hair would give normal people a chance to spot me and even it reflects light very poorly making it harder to spot than you would think. I am almost invisible in the darkness but still, it is better to not take chances now isn't it?

I dug my toes into the earth getting the feel for the greater area of Forks underneath my feet. The earth and the night have always talked to me, always connected with me on a level I cannot begin to explain with words. Not just the earth and the night but the moonlight and the stars also connected to me like brothers and sisters. Everything was inside me and it _was_ me and yet it wasn't all at the same time. I slung my bow across my back and began moving quietly out of my front yard and into the surrounding forest. I waited only long enough to be just inside the tree line when I began to run.

I let myself run almost sucked into the forest as if like a vortex was propelling me along the game trails and little known paths. I'm not sure how fast I could run but I'm fast enough to keep pace with a deer which I think is pretty damn good as I only have two legs compared to four. Information flooded me in a way I'd bet no other human had ever experienced before. I could smell the forest, the animals that had passed by, the scent marking, the trees, dirt, the moisture in the air, the droppings of animals and the occasional whiff of a decomposing creature. The earth beneath my feet told me things too if I focused on it. I could feel a small herd of deer maybe a mile off, I could feel the trees and the creeks and the span of the land. If I stopped and focused I could feel even more, the raccoons and squirrels and the owls in the trees, the grubs in the ground and the wind caressing everything as it sped through the forest. If I sat and concentrated enough I could almost believe I could feel the entire forest as if it were my very own skin.

For hours I just ran barefoot through the forest enjoying the exertion of pushing my body and being in the only place I felt I belonged. I jumped over boulders, skipped over creeks, sometimes I would climb a tree and jump from tree to tree like Jane of the Jungle when the trees were close enough to each other. It was only when a bit of tiredness began creeping into my limbs that my raw enthusiasm for being free had calmed down enough for my other instincts to start tugging at my attention.

I sniffed and caught the scent of deer a ways upwind. It would be simple to take a second to track the deer through the earth but it is much more satisfying to the hunter within to track them by sight and scent alone. As they always do my fangs begin to throb, almost ache as I began to hunt. The desire to take down my prey and sink my fangs into fresh, quivering hot meat became almost overwhelming.

I moved through the forest in complete silence, my feet and body instinctually knowing where to go to not give myself away. The wind was blowing perfectly bringing the scent of deer to me while taking mine away long before they could smell it. As the scent got stronger I slowed, crouching low to the ground behind the light foliage and very carefully pulling the bow from my back without making any noise.

When I finally got close enough to spot them there were four females either laying down resting or lightly foraging. One in particular was laying down showing me her profile barely hidden from view by a few scrawny branches. Perfect.

I withdrew an arrow and notched it into my bow, my muscles straining as I drew back the high tension pull, perfectly maintained pulleys making less than a whisper of a sound. Exhaling I held my breath and let go. The arrow flew true and caught the dozing doe through the heart causing her flail only for a moment or two before going still. The others in the small herd made noises of alarm and fled. It had been a perfect kill. The predator inside me would have rather I had killed the deer with my knife or my bare hands but that wasn't the type of thing I usually indulged in, not to mention how incredibly difficult and time consuming it was to pull off.

I walked up to the carcass and took my backpack off setting it down beside me. Removing the arrow I began to gut and clean the kill. It wasn't a pleasant experience for me but not for the reasons you would imagine. Nightime predator Bella did not mind the blood and guts. The hunter, however, was tempted to sink her teeth into raw meat and eat it bloody right on the spot. I refused to do it. I was a person, and there were limits to how much like an animal I was willing to act. Days when I was stressed like today at my first day of school made my instincts that much harder to control. I was almost drooling and kept having vivid images of burying my face in a bloody chunk of meat while I cut into the deer. It was difficult but I worked quickly somehow keeping control of myself.

Unfortunately gutting and butchering an animal as large as a doe takes time and the process always became a time of thinking and introspection for me. As much as I hated it my mind kept being drawn back to school. And one person in particular.

I couldn't help but remember how I had been with Alice today, and part of me couldn't help but feel like a total fool. What had I been thinking agreeing to go shopping with her? During the day I was much weaker and fuzzy headed but now at night I had better perspective. Looking back on the interaction between us I could now see how I had been not so subtly bullied and manipulated into accepting her offer. I just hadn't been quick enough to catch it or strong enough to fight it when it happened. Alice was just… too much for me to handle during the day. With dread I wondered if she was going to continually use her charisma and personality into bullying weaker daytime me into agreeing to things I wanted no part of. Just what the hell did Alice want with me anyway? Not really knowing her motives made me uneasy and suspicious. I couldn't help but wonder what her motivation was for trying so hard with freakish daytime Bella who clearly didn't want any friends. What could a girl who looked like she could have anything or anyone want with me?

I laughed when I wondered what Alice would think of me now, elbow deep in animal guts and having to physically restrain myself from tearing into the meat like a starving wolf. Maybe I should do that and take a picture of myself with my face and upper body splattered in gore? I'm sure that would be enough to scare any dainty, overly friendly and overly pretty pixie away.

When I was ready I started pulling out a bunch of really heavy duty zip lock bags from my backpack. I started cutting the best meat from the doe and filling all the baggies, stuffing my backpack full of deer meat to take back home. Charlie and I had not lived together in a while but he knew the drill and we would be having deer steaks, deer burgers and deer everything else for a little while at the house after I filled the fridge with my kill tonight. I hope he has friends he can give meat away to because otherwise I would either have to wait until we ate everything to kill another deer or let some meat of my next kill go to waste… not something I really like to do. Then again if a wolf eats it, is it really going to waste? I think not.

Tossing on my now heavy backpack it came to me again how little I belonged in human society. I'd just killed a deer and I was already planning my next kill, anxiously awaiting when I could run the forests and hunt again. Looking at my blood soaked and gore covered hands I decided to give in a little to my inhumanity. I sucked on one of my fingers and had an involuntary shudder of pleasure at the primal act of tasting my kill. This is what I really was. I didn't belong with people. When high school was over I wanted nothing more than to lose myself in some deep dark forest and figure out a way to live there. Out here was the only place I felt I truly belonged. It would be a lonely existence but there was nothing I could do about that. It's not like there was anyone who could possibly share this with me. Maybe I would get a pet wolf or something? Maybe that would help.

When I saw Alice tomorrow I'm going to tell her that the shopping trip is off. Thank you but no thank you. Making connections with people would be pointless and would just make things harder when the time came. Besides, whatever Alice wants with me, even if it isn't bad per se, isn't going to be anything I could really give her. What I really am is a nocturnal predator, not BFF material for a pint sized fashionista. Even if I am drawn to her it will all ultimately end in tears.

I should just be rude and a bitch to her and pull the Band-Aid off to make sure she never comes looking for me again. It's the best thing for both of us. I'd be doing her a favor, really.

Resolved to do that the next day and feeling better with a sound plan I shouldered by belongings and took off running to see if I could find any wolves. They would smell the meat in my backpack and chase me, it might be fun to lead them on a merry chase only to climb up a tree if they ever actually managed to corner me. I'll give them some meat for their troubles. Only a few more hours of freedom before I have to return home and hope I have enough time to do all my homework before daybreak.

XXXXX

**_A/N: Hope you liked it! If Bella seemed very different from Bella in the last chapters that was on purpose. Her personality changes somewhat between night or day. During the day she is more quirky, awkward and insecure and more funny as well and I think that shows up in the writing (or at least I hope it does). Night time Bella is more grim, strong, aggressive, and not quite as humorous. _**

**_Thank you for reading my story so far everyone. I hope this change wasn't too jarring. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought. Much appreciate it. _**

**_Take care, be happy! :) _**


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N: Happy New Years everybody! Hope everyone had fantastic holidays. To help you celebrate the first week of the new year here is the latest chapter for my story. I hope you enjoy!_**

XXXXX

**_(Alice POV) _**

I've been having a terrible terrible week. Oh don't get me wrong from some perspectives it's been fun. It's felt extremely cloak and dagger, a lot more than you would expect it to be in high school. I've been hiding in bathrooms, hiding behind people (sometimes it pays to be short), ducking into doorways and classrooms and sometimes I'll admit using my supernatural senses to know when to head in the opposite direction. For the first time since I first saw _Dr. No_ in theaters I think I'm getting some idea of what being a spy must feel like.

But overall the whole week has been an exercise in annoyance and frustration. Why you may ask? Because I've only grown more and more curious and inexplicably more and more drawn to get to know Bella. At the same time I've had to avoid her like the plague ever since Tuesday by going extremely out of my way to make sure we never have an even semi-private moment between us. Our interactions have been limited all week to just cheerful greetings from down the hall on my part and awkward halfhearted waves on her part.

You see I've been avoiding Bella because I keep getting clear visions every time it looks like we are going to get a moment together. Every time it's a variation on the same theme. If I give her a chance to talk to me she is going to tell me very rudely that not only is she not going to go shopping with me on Saturday, but that she never wants me to speak to her again. In my visions she always ranges from rude to just nasty. It really ticks me off seeing that over and over again. I'm just trying to be friendly, what have I done to deserve that kind of treatment? If it were just the natural fear humans have of vampires she wouldn't be acting like that.

I'll admit, I'm mad at Bella. Anyone in my family will tell you you don't want me mad at you because someway, somehow I always get my revenge. The vampire in me wants to roughly grab her, pin her down and show her her place. However I usually settle for more subtle means of revenge. No matter what Bella is going to be my friend and once she accepts that there is going to be a little payback time for how mean she's been wanting to be to me all week.

It's Friday now and my visions have shown me what I need to do to make sure Bella still goes shopping with me tomorrow. It took a little trial and error but I'm pretty sure I've got a handle on how to deal with wig-and-face paint girl now. Luckily for me even though visions in general having to do with Bella are still hit or miss on this particular topic the vision gods have decided to give me all the information I need. It was kind of amusing to find out what Bella responds to the best.

Instead of wavering from amused to annoyed and acting skittish I was sitting in my last class waiting for it to end feeling confident and relaxed for the first time since Monday. Rosalie sitting next to me had clearly noticed my changed demeanor if the sideways glances she was sending me were any indication. In the end it didn't take that long for Rosie to crack and say what she had been itching to say.

"So you're finally ending this ridiculous farce with the weird human girl?" she asked quietly as we worked on our assignments.

"There's nothing ridiculous about it. I'll have you know that everything I do is for a very good reason," I replied haughtily.

Rosie snorted in amusement like that. "Next you'll be telling me not to question you because you're subtle and quick to anger," she replied knowing that I had been joking.

"I can be subtle. It does take something extra to piss me off though," I replied saying the last bit rather harshly.

"Ouch. What did the little meat bag do to tick you off? And are you finally going to tell me why you've been fleeing her on sight all week? It was only really amusing in the first day before you turned it into something obnoxious," she said.

I'd been keeping her in the dark all week. It's one of those slightly petty things we vampires tend to do to keep ourselves amused in our sometimes dull long life. Rosalie had been a trooper and played right along so I figured I owed her an explanation.

"She's been wanting to call off our shopping date all week. There's no way I was going to just let her do that, I mean it's shopping for God's sake. I just need to time things right today to get her to stop fighting me on this and just cave to the inevitable. She and I are going shopping this weekend no matter what the heck she thinks she wants!"

Rosalie gave me another long questioning look. Ok I'll admit that sounded maybe a teensy-weensy bit psyco but something about this whole situation with Bella Swan has just gotten under my skin. And it wasn't just me either. That vampire side of me was for some odd reason really possessive of her too. Like, beat her up and force to her acknowledge my superiority over her possessive. It was weird and I wondered if this was a normal thing when vampires starting letting humans into their lives.

"A date huh?" said Rosalie, her expression and tone halfway between a smirk and disapproval, "wonder what Jasper would have to say about that?"

"I didn't mean it like that," I snapped at her sharply. Immediately I regretted it. "I'm sorry I really shouldn't have snapped," I said right away. To further smooth things over I decided to add something personal, "I don't know what it is this whole befriending humans is new to me. This situation just has me on edge you know? I'll be fine, it's just making me feel a little more vampy than normal I guess."

"I still think this whole thing is a stupid idea. If she's making you feel more vamped out why are you still insisting on going through with this? What you're essentially saying is that your control is suffering. If you slip up and bite the weirdo we're all in a world of trouble," Rosie said, once again letting me know her 'stay away from all humans, it's dangerous to us' opinion about these things. As I was tired of hearing it I decided to ignore it.

We spent the rest of the class period in silence and I wondered how many more times in my lifetime I was going to have to pretend to learn about the American Revolution and write useless papers about it when I could have probably written scholarly tomes on the subject by now. My eyes flickered to Rosalie and watching her pretending to focus on her work it suddenly struck me how ridiculous this farce is. I mean we're all chronologically at least senior citizens and we are spending our un-life pretending to be silly human teenagers? Since time doesn't really mean much to us I know I'll go along with it for now… but really, isn't there something better to do with eternal life than go to high school over and over again?

My moment of reflection is cut off by the bell ringing signaling an end to our last class of the day. Finally the time was ripe for me to ambush Bella and show her just what I think of what she was thinking of doing. I sniggered a little (sub vocally of course). This was going to be fun.

I got my books and rushed out of the campus heading over to Bella's truck. Just like in my vision parked next to her colorful vehicle (the whole thing is really quite cute) was a massive Ford F-350. I went and stood on the other side of it from Bella's truck. Sometimes being tiny is a great advantage… its useful for hiding and getting the drop on mean girls who just don't know when they've picked a fight the just can't win.

Five minutes later I heard the distinctive sound of her footsteps and picked up her unique and titillating scent. She still smells the same delicious combination of power and nature. It's a miracle my control isn't any worse with her than with any other humans given how heavenly delicious she smells.

When I heard her jiggle her keys and start to put them in the door I stepped out from behind the F-350 I had been standing behind. With a slightly evil smirk I strutted my way over to her. This was going to be fun.

XXXXX

**_(Bella POV)_**

As I left the school without getting a chance to talk to Alice yet again I breathed a sigh of relief and disappointment. I didn't really want to be mean to the pixie, one because she didn't deserve it and two I actually kind of did like her. Still it was the best thing for both of us if she just left me alone. She would be much happier and better off if she forgot I even existed.

Oh who am I kidding, my motives for doing this are entirely selfish at heart. Still that doesn't mean she _wouldn't_ be better off not getting invested in someone who has no intention of seriously returning her friendship.

Turns out though maybe my doing a b-i-t-c-a impersonation on her wouldn't be necessary. Reason is she's been avoiding me like the plague all week. I'll admit part of me feels kind of hurt and disappointed. Still, it makes sense. Beautiful popular girl with perfect grades turns out to be a total flake. Try hard to befriend the new girl on day one and forget about her the next. Knew she just seemed _way_ too perfect. It looks like she forgot about our "shopping trip" all on her own without me having to say anything about it. It makes me feel kind of small that someone who made plans with me just forgot about me like that but I end up getting what I want in the end anyway. That's a win for me right?

I was looking forward to a quiet weekend now. Maybe go to the library and start researching life after high school. Eat some deer meat (I really needed to find something else to hunt around here) and further explore the woods in the greater Forks area. Just normal, boring, and living for when I can go out and cut loose at night. Nothing new there.

I stole a quick glance towards the fancy cars of the Cullen's and saw that the cars were still there but none of the obscenely stepford family was anywhere in sight. Glad for an excuse not to have to contemplate whether or not to talk to Alice I pulled out my keys and neared my truck.

The lock had just popped open when I heard a familiar, nearly hypnotic voice right behind me.

"Leaving so soon?" said the voice sounding cool and slightly accusatory.

I turned around at hearing that voice. One perfectly manicured eyebrow was raised in question and the look she sent me was clearly angry. Those golden eyes pinned me in place and I was scrambling to remember what I could have possibly done to piss her off.

"Well?" she said, spreading her legs as she stood, her whole body radiating displeasure. Suddenly Alice didn't seem all that little or harmless anymore.

"A-Alice," I stammered suddenly feeling like I should be frantically apologizing for something, "I … uh, guess so?" I said uncertainly.

"You know after you agreed to go shopping with me this weekend I thought you wanted to be friends. If you don't that's one thing, but why have you been avoiding me all week?" she asked, still angry but sounding just a little hurt.

I just looked at her. "_I've_ been avoiding _you_ all week?" I asked incredulously. That's totally not what had happened!

"Why have you been running away from me?" Alice asked ignoring my response, "is there something about me you don't like?" she said, voice hitching just enough to sound vulnerable.

"No!" came my immediate denial and I surprised myself with how forceful it was, "there's nothing wrong with you. You're great, really but it's not really about you-"

"So does that mean you like me?" Alice asked. This conversation was bizarre just like my last conversation with her had been. But she had perked up and looked so hopeful so I couldn't help but answer honestly.

"Kind of hard not to like you Alice. And I haven't been avoiding you. In fact I think _you're_ the one who's been avoiding _me_," I said.

She just waved it off and it kind of irked me. "Don't be silly Bella, why would I be avoiding you? I was the one who was trying to befriend _you_. But it's ok I forgive you because you just admitted that you like me," she said and her smile was so radiant my eyes widened and I think I stopped breathing altogether. "So should I pick you up tomorrow at eleven? Port Angeles is going to be a blast. Or we could even go as far as Seattle if you wanted to" she said.

Huh? Oh crap that's right she still thinks we're going shopping this weekend. Now though after seeing her all pissed off and scary and now smiling up at me like going on a shopping trip with me is making her the happiest girl in the world… I almost couldn't bring myself to shoot her down.

Well, almost.

"I'd love to but, you see something came up and I'm busy this weekend," I said. So seeing her all happy and hopeful made me not want to be mean and chase her away for good, at least not right then. I can be a bit cruel if I have to but I have my limits.

"Really? Busy with what?" she said in such a fake cheery tone I couldn't help but feel like I was walking into a trap. But that's totally silly right?

The truth is I had no plans for that weekend so I just stared at her blankly for a few seconds furiously trying to come up with a lie. But like I've said before under the light of the sun my brain isn't always working on all cylinders. Instead of something especially clever all I came up with was, "Well I uh, kinda promised my dad that I could do this thing for him-"

"Oh you don't have to worry about that," said Alice to me cheerfully, looking a little too self satisfied for my tastes.

"What? What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"I called and talked to your dad last night. Since I'm taking his daughter out for the day I thought it would only be polite to introduce myself and ask his permission, you know? He seemed to think you don't get out enough and don't have enough friends. We talked for a little while and he was _very_ excited about you and me spending the day together tomorrow. I think he called it a 'stupendous idea' if I remember right. So whatever thing you said you would do for your dad I'm sure he'll let you off the hook for tomorrow seeing how he already gave us his blessing to spend the day together and all," she said and something in her shrewd eyes and tone made me think this had all been deliberate and I had just been outplayed.

Damn it this was so not good. I had gotten in late last night after Charlie had gone to bed and he had to be at the station early today so he left before I was up for school. Because he didn't tell me Alice had called him I really put my foot in it and got tripped up in my really crappy half-assed lies. I was definitely feeling the pressure now. Everything combined was weakening my resolve and I felt on the verge of caving in. Besides, even though I hate shopping some small part of me did kind of sort of want to go with Alice and explore this friendship she was offering.

However anyone who's known me for a while will tell you one thing about me; Bella Swan is stubborn. Even though it would make me look and feel like a total ass I wasn't ready to give up just yet. I knew Alice was dangerous to me in more ways than one. I had to nip this 'friendship' in the bud before it got too far… or very soon it might be too late for me.

"No Alice, I don't want to go shopping with you tomorrow," I said. I wanted my voice to come out strong and confident but instead it came out weak and shaky. I couldn't look her in the eye when I said that and looked away suddenly feeling ashamed of what I was doing through I'm not sure exactly why. Part of me expected her to be hurt, or get mad and storm off. Instead what she did caught me totally off guard.

She stepped right into my personal space and I backed up instinctually until my back hit the door of my truck. Alice put one of her hands on the truck next to my head and brought her body so close to mine our breasts were almost touching. Our faces were so close I could smell the minty sweetness of her breath on my face and her chest heaved with forceful breaths. The look on her face was far from the happy and friendly face she usually wore. Alice was _pissed_.

I looked into her eyes and almost wish I hadn't. Her beautiful golden eyes were bleeding into black. Into black! Her eyes were intense and furious boring into mine with frightening intensity. I suddenly felt terrified, like a mouse caught in the claws of an angry jungle cat. Something in my primordial brain screamed 'danger danger!' and I listened to it freezing still and not moving in case any slight movement might set her off. My heart pounded in my chest and at that moment I was convinced that my life was suddenly very much in mortal danger.

I just looked at her eyes, wide eyed, as the black completely overcame the iris and sclera and pupils and I was just looking into a black abyss. It was all I could do not to wet myself right then and there.

Alice then spoke, her voice clipped and a shade deeper than normal. "This is not a negotiation Bella. We _will_ become friends one way or the other. We have to. I am going to pick you at your house tomorrow at eleven and you will be ready and waiting to spend the day with me. Have I made myself clear?"

I couldn't do anything but nod shakily. I didn't want to risk speaking and I wasn't sure my voice would have worked anyway. Alice held me pinned to the side of my truck for a few moments longer looking at me as if trying to see if I was being honest or not. After what seemed like an eternity she pulled away from me and turned around looking away. I just stood there frozen looking at Alice as she took a few deep breaths seemingly trying to calm down. When she turned back to me she was all smiles again and her eyes had returned to their regular lion honey-yellow color again.

"Great, I'll see you then!" she said with a cute little wave and strode off towards her where her family's cars were parked.

I watched her walk away still recovering from the sudden terror and half worried that she would come back and actually rip my face off or something. As I saw her approach the cars I realized that all the Cullens were standing around looking from Alice to me and back again. Something about the way all four of them stood perfectly still against the cars as they alternatively watched me and Alice unnerved the crap out of my already frazzled nerves.

The blonde girl, Rosalie I think, caught my eye and sent me a scathing hateful look that felt like a physical impact all the way clear across the parking lot. Quickly I turned and entered my truck, turning it on and peeling out of the parking lot as fast as I could without running any of the students over.

As I sped home I only had three words repeating themselves in my head over and over again.

**What. The. ****_Fuck?_**

XXXXX

**_A/N: A special note about Alice. For me (and I'm sure people will disagree and that's totally fine) canon Alice was a little two dimensional. In some ways that was kind of necessary since she was just one supporting character amongst many. While that worked I felt like I needed to add a little extra. _**

**_My Alice has a temper and can be seriously impulsive. She can be vindictive and very forceful about getting what she wants. However she is still sweet, loyal and a great person all around. Point is for me all the best and most interesting characters have some pretty major flaws and I needed to make sure Alice had at least some of those. _**

**_I'm writing this to explain any perceived OOC tendencies you may or may not see in Alice. I expect for some people this will seem totally/mostly in character and some people might scream defamation of canon. Whatever the case may be I hope you give this Alice a chance and I can assure you I'll be trying to make sure she remains very much canon Alice with extras added on to her personality. _**

**_Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review and let me know what you think! _**


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